LETTER: Electricity offers cleaner energy

The Guardian

Published: Jul 12 at 8:48 a.m.

Updated: Jul 12 at 9:21 a.m.

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EDITOR:

Anticipating an election, government is desperately attempting to buy votes by promising a 10 per cent rebate on the first 2000 kwh/month of electricity used. Minister Richard Brown is encouraging people to increase their use of electricity as a greener source for power and heating. Minister Paula Biggar claims rebates will make it more affordable for Islanders to use low-carbon sources of energy. Maritime Electric is salivating at their new-found windfall.

Brown used taxpayers’ monies to make a similar deal in the past which in the end nearly bankrupted citizens. He spent millions to buy out an electrical contract which used oil to produce electricity that he deemed was environmentally unfriendly and dirty. If Mrs. Biggar had done her due diligence, she would know Cavendish and ADL switched to liquefied natural gas, possibly the cleanest of fossil fuels and cheaper than crude, to eliminate oil, yet she allowed Maritime Electric to install a $50 million standby heavy oil-fired generator.

Some 60 per cent of energy used in households is used for space heating. How many homes are properly insulated and have 200 amp services? What are the anticipated capital costs of installation? P.E.I. has one of Canada’s highest electrical rates. What would the annual operating costs be? Electrical heating has very high operating costs. Electricity is clean but since most of our supply is generated using coal or heavy oil at the point of generation it has an environmental impact. Will our ministers differentiate which megawatt of power is dirty?